Chapter 12
On Saturday that week, I finished my morning work as soon as I woke up and went straight to the Dierne Duke’s mansion.
“If nothing special happens, he probably won’t come home immediately on the weekend after school starts.”
It took half a day by carriage to travel from Mitas, the city where Randest Royal Military Academy was located, to here. That meant Darius had no reason to come home unless something important happened.
Still, I went with some small hope, but the Dierne mansion butler told me that Darius was not here. I felt disappointed, but I accepted it.
“Then where is the Duchess?”
Since the plan was to drink tea with the Duchess and then go to Kyle.
“Today, Madam also went to the royal palace and is not here.”
“Oh! Is today the debutante ball at the royal palace?!”
“Yes.”
Count Brant was not a person who often attended social events, so I had forgotten. The social season had begun in earnest this year.
Until autumn, there would be many big events, and noble families would host parties about three times a week.
The Duchess often appeared at such places, so I was temporarily free from being her conversation partner. Talking about butterflies was getting boring anyway, so this was good.
“If Lady Ries visits today, she was told to rest freely.”
“Then can I play with Kyle?”
“Of course. Should I call young master Kyleus?”
The old butler of the duke family, who already knew my usual route, smiled kindly.
“He is at the outdoor training ground, right? I will find him myself!”
“Then I will send tea and snacks there.”
“Thank you!”
I immediately left the reception room. Finding the exit of the maze garden leading to the outdoor training ground was now easy since I had done it several times.
“Kyle, hello! I’m here.”
I shouted happily as soon as I saw the round black back of his head.
Kyle wiped sweat from his hand and turned his head. Even after confirming I came, he continued what he was doing.
“Is it about time you return my greeting?”
I complained slightly and found the chessboard on the wisteria bench table. The pieces were scattered across the board.
“What? You were waiting for me? You wanted to play chess?”
I tried to hide my smile and approached Kyle.
“Defeat is not allowed for the Dierne family.”
Seriously. That line was from Darius in the original story. So it was like a family motto. I wanted to hear it from Darius himself later!
Anyway, it was clear that Kyle was prepared. He didn’t deny that he was waiting and immediately sat in front of the chessboard.
The boy who used to only think about chasing me away was now voluntarily wanting to play with me. This was a big success.
As soon as I sat opposite him, Kyle looked eager to start chess, so I waved my arms.
“Don’t start the game right away. Let’s talk a little.”
“What talk?”
“Hmm, did you eat lunch?”
I asked in a Korean-style greeting.
Kyle turned away with a bothered expression and shook his head.
“…About right.”
“What did you eat?”
“Just something.”
“What is ‘something’?”
“I just filled my stomach.”
It was a very unkind answer, but I kept asking anyway. Meanwhile, the duke’s servants came and set tea and snacks on the table.
“But today is Saturday. Don’t you rest even on weekends and train all day?”
“Yeah.”
“Muscles also need time to recover. How about resting properly one day a week?”
“Mind your own business.”
“……”
Polite words were met with even worse answers.
I stopped talking and looked at Kyle’s side face. His long bangs partly hid his face, but his golden ratio profile showed great potential.
He was someone who would grow into a handsome man in the future, but his personality… If he wanted a partner other than the female lead Adele, he would have to fix this bad attitude.
Could I fix his personality after we became closer?
Amber-colored eyes rolled and glanced at me.
“What.”
His thick eyebrows narrowed, making a vertical line between them.
“Relax your forehead. If you keep frowning, you’ll get wrinkles.”
“I don’t care if I get wrinkles or not.”
I was already getting used to his sharp answers. Hearing them often didn’t hurt anymore.
“Fine, fine. Let’s just play chess.”
I gave up friendly conversation and pulled the chessboard closer. Kyle silently placed his pieces on the board too.
Let’s see how much he improved.
“Checkmate.”
“Gasp!”
…I lost even though he didn’t go easy on me. My king was defeated after 30 minutes.
Kyle’s mouth rose slightly in victory.
“How much did you practice in just four days? Did you only eat and play chess?”
“I didn’t practice. I didn’t do that kind of thing.”
“You’re lying!”
I didn’t know whether he studied strategy books or something, but his moves were strange and impressive.
Anyway, I was finally free from the chess curse.
I took out dice and trump cards from my small bag. This time I only brought these two instead of stuffing everything into the trunk. There were many games I could play with them.
“Let’s play something else now. Chess is boring. I know many fun games….”
At that moment, Kyle suddenly raised his hand with thumb and middle finger together.
I remembered the punishment.
“Ah, forehead flick….”
Did he really want to hit me that much? So childish.
I lifted my bangs, lowered my head, and closed my eyes tightly.
Soon, a heavy pain hit my forehead.
“Aaaah!”
Wow. I thought my forehead was going to split open.
I looked up with teary eyes, full of resentment.
Was he like this because he was a kid? Or because he had poor social skills? He didn’t hold back at all.
“Don’t act weak. I held back strength.”
“It hurts a lot! Isn’t it bleeding?”
Kyle set the chess pieces again, so I rubbed my sore forehead and shouted.
“Stop! You won already! Let’s do something else!”
“It’s still 3–1.”
“What?”
So his words about playing until he won meant… until he turned the record around?
Kyle quickly placed the pieces back and turned the board 180 degrees.
“You take white.”
Ha. So now he was the one going easy on me? He only won one game!
I felt my swollen forehead throbbing, and fighting spirit burned inside me. I would go serious mode.
After that, we went back and forth in close matches.
At first I was burning with competition, but after two hours my brain felt overloaded.
When the score reached 5–5, I slammed the table and threw the chess pieces down.
“Let’s stop! I feel like my brain is getting tangled!”
“You’re saying that because you think you’ll lose?”
“I’m tired! My brain feels wrinkled.”
Declaring a strike, I lay down on the long bench.
The wrist that was supposed to be punished instead of my forehead was also turning red.
“You’re weak.”
“I can’t do more today. Let’s decide the winner next time.”
Kyle looked at me dissatisfied but stood up anyway.
Then I remembered something I prepared.
“Wait! I have something to give you!”
I stood up quickly and took a card from the inner pocket of my bag.
It was a colorful birthday party invitation I made myself last night.
The official invitation would come later, but it would look too formal, so I added my own personal touch.
“The date is still far away, but I’ll give it to you in advance. Keep that day free!”
I forced the invitation card into Kyle’s hand.
Kyle looked down at the card and frowned.
“I don’t have time.”
“What? You promised.”
He avoided my eyes and picked up his training sword, walking toward the training target.
“Kyle! I’m disappointed that you are someone who doesn’t keep promises. Do you know how much I was looking forward to celebrating my birthday with my first friend? I even made this invitation with my small hands—”
“Ah, fine. I’ll go. Happy?”
I followed behind, pretending to be hurt.
“Yay! I’ll prepare lots of delicious food.”
I jumped happily.
“Now. Hook your little finger. So you can’t change your words.”
I held out my little finger.
Kyle hesitated while looking at my hand.
I grabbed his arm and started the oath ceremony.
“Promise, stamp, copy, signature, coating.”
I quickly moved my hands over his open palm. When I was in elementary school, I always had to go through this long process when making a promise.
“What are you doing?”
“This is my oath method. If you break the promise now, you will be in big trouble. You will get an unknown illness and live your whole life bald.”
When I seriously scared him, Kyle let out a short laugh. It was a faint smile, but it was the first time I heard him laugh out loud.
I was happy seeing him slowly lower his guard.
If we get closer little by little like this, maybe we will really become friends someday.
At that time, I didn’t know yet.
That the plan that was going smoothly like sailing with the wind would soon face trouble.
